Live Science is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.The ocean north of has turned into an "alphabet soup" of broken icebergs, according to a new blog post on NASA's.In a satellite photo snapped on Feb. 11, 2021, the jagged outlines of 11 fractured icebergs swirl around a remote, penguin-filled island called South Georgia, located about 940 miles (1,500 kilometers) northeast of the Antarctic Peninsula.Each frozen chunk is a piece of the once-mighty iceberg A-68a, which held the title of for more than three years before a...…Live Science is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.The ocean north of has turned into an "alphabet soup" of broken icebergs, according to a new blog post on NASA's.In a satellite photo snapped on Feb. 11, 2021, the jagged outlines of 11 fractured icebergs swirl around a remote, penguin-filled island called South Georgia, located about 940 miles (1,500 kilometers) northeast of the Antarctic Peninsula.Each frozen chunk is a piece of the once-mighty iceberg A-68a, which held the title of for more than three years before a...WW…

Live Science is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Archaeologists in South Carolina have uncovered the remnants of a 1920s-era still that may have been run by one of Al Capone's criminal associates.While digging in a wooded region known as "Hell Hole Swamp" (part of South Carolina's Francis Marion National Forest) outside Charlottesville, the researchers discovered a metal barrel, a green garden hose, cinder blocks and various pieces of scrap metal, according to South Carolina's.Despite their motley appearance, these...…Live Science is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Archaeologists in South Carolina have uncovered the remnants of a 1920s-era still that may have been run by one of Al Capone's criminal associates.While digging in a wooded region known as "Hell Hole Swamp" (part of South Carolina's Francis Marion National Forest) outside Charlottesville, the researchers discovered a metal barrel, a green garden hose, cinder blocks and various pieces of scrap metal, according to South Carolina's.Despite their motley appearance, these...WW…

Live Science is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.A satellite images shows the disintegration of iceberg A68a(Image: © ESA)The has shattered into a dozen pieces, the U.S. National Ice Center (USNIC) reported on Sunday (Jan. 31), bringing the colossal object a few leaps closer to its total destruction. Thousands of local penguins have breathed a sigh of relief.The iceberg, named A-68a, broke off of northern Antarctica's Larsen C Ice Shelf on July 12, 2017, and has been steadily drifting north ever since. While the berg...…Live Science is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.A satellite images shows the disintegration of iceberg A68a(Image: © ESA)The has shattered into a dozen pieces, the U.S. National Ice Center (USNIC) reported on Sunday (Jan. 31), bringing the colossal object a few leaps closer to its total destruction. Thousands of local penguins have breathed a sigh of relief.The iceberg, named A-68a, broke off of northern Antarctica's Larsen C Ice Shelf on July 12, 2017, and has been steadily drifting north ever since. While the berg...WW…

Live Science is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.This Madagascar chameleon is the world's smallest reptile.(Image: © Frank Glaw)The world's smallest male reptile can fit right on your fingertip — if its massive genitals don't get in its way.Meet Brookesia nana, an extremely tiny species of from the rainforests of northern Madagascar. Researchers recently described one male and one female of the species in a study published Jan. 28 in the journal, and they were stunned by the male's particularly wee dimensions....…Live Science is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.This Madagascar chameleon is the world's smallest reptile.(Image: © Frank Glaw)The world's smallest male reptile can fit right on your fingertip — if its massive genitals don't get in its way.Meet Brookesia nana, an extremely tiny species of from the rainforests of northern Madagascar. Researchers recently described one male and one female of the species in a study published Jan. 28 in the journal, and they were stunned by the male's particularly wee dimensions....WW…

TrendingSpace is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.(Image: © NASA/JPL-Caltech)Earth's second moon will make a close approach to the planet next week before drifting off into space, never to be seen again."What second moon," you ask? Astronomers call it — a small object that dropped into Earth's orbit about halfway between our planet and the moon in September 2020. Temporary satellites like these are known as minimoons, though calling it a moon is a bit deceptive in this case; in December 2020, NASA researchers learned...…TrendingSpace is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.(Image: © NASA/JPL-Caltech)Earth's second moon will make a close approach to the planet next week before drifting off into space, never to be seen again."What second moon," you ask? Astronomers call it — a small object that dropped into Earth's orbit about halfway between our planet and the moon in September 2020. Temporary satellites like these are known as minimoons, though calling it a moon is a bit deceptive in this case; in December 2020, NASA researchers learned...WW…

Live Science is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.(Image: © NASA/JPL-Caltech)Earth's second moon will make a close approach to the planet next week before drifting off into space, never to be seen again."What second moon," you ask? Astronomers call it — a small object that dropped into Earth's orbit about halfway between our planet and the moon in September 2020. Temporary satellites like these are known as minimoons, though calling it a moon is a bit deceptive in this case; in December 2020, NASA researchers learned...…Live Science is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.(Image: © NASA/JPL-Caltech)Earth's second moon will make a close approach to the planet next week before drifting off into space, never to be seen again."What second moon," you ask? Astronomers call it — a small object that dropped into Earth's orbit about halfway between our planet and the moon in September 2020. Temporary satellites like these are known as minimoons, though calling it a moon is a bit deceptive in this case; in December 2020, NASA researchers learned...WW…

Live Science is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.This NASA illustration depicts an O'Neill Cylinder: a floating human habitat orbiting an alien planet. A new paper proposes building a mega-colony of them around the dwarf planet, Ceres.(Image: © Rick Guidice courtesy of NASA)Now more than ever, space agencies and starry-eyed billionaires have their minds fixed on finding a new home for humanity beyond Earth's orbit. is an obvious candidate, given its relatively close proximity, 24-hour day/night cycle and -rich...…Live Science is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.This NASA illustration depicts an O'Neill Cylinder: a floating human habitat orbiting an alien planet. A new paper proposes building a mega-colony of them around the dwarf planet, Ceres.(Image: © Rick Guidice courtesy of NASA)Now more than ever, space agencies and starry-eyed billionaires have their minds fixed on finding a new home for humanity beyond Earth's orbit. is an obvious candidate, given its relatively close proximity, 24-hour day/night cycle and -rich...WW…

TrendingSpace is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Mars and its two moons, Phobos and Deimos(Image: © NASA/ JPL)The Red Planet is wiggling and wobbling as it spins, research in the journal confirms, and astronomers have no idea why.Like a toy top that teeters as it loses speed, the poles of are wandering ever-so-slightly away from the planet's axis of rotation, moving about 4 inches (10 centimeters) off-center every 200 days or so, researchers reported in a study published Oct. 13, 2020. That makes Mars only the...…TrendingSpace is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Mars and its two moons, Phobos and Deimos(Image: © NASA/ JPL)The Red Planet is wiggling and wobbling as it spins, research in the journal confirms, and astronomers have no idea why.Like a toy top that teeters as it loses speed, the poles of are wandering ever-so-slightly away from the planet's axis of rotation, moving about 4 inches (10 centimeters) off-center every 200 days or so, researchers reported in a study published Oct. 13, 2020. That makes Mars only the...WW…

Live Science is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.A close-up photo of part of Mars' Valles Marineris, the single largest canyon in the solar system.(Image: © NASA/JPL/University of Arizona)About 87 million miles (140 million kilometers) above the, an even larger, grander abyss cuts through the gut of the Red Planet. Known as Valles Marineris, this system of deep, vast canyons runs more than 2,500 miles (4,000 km) along the Martian equator, spanning nearly a quarter of the planet's circumference. This gash in the...…Live Science is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.A close-up photo of part of Mars' Valles Marineris, the single largest canyon in the solar system.(Image: © NASA/JPL/University of Arizona)About 87 million miles (140 million kilometers) above the, an even larger, grander abyss cuts through the gut of the Red Planet. Known as Valles Marineris, this system of deep, vast canyons runs more than 2,500 miles (4,000 km) along the Martian equator, spanning nearly a quarter of the planet's circumference. This gash in the...WW…

Live Science is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.A diver in Antarctica's McMurdo Sound observes a Weddell seal swimming toward him.(Image: © McMurdo Oceanographic Observatory)Above water, they sound like bellowing . Below the ice, they sound like chirping, chattering robots. Either way, the Weddell of Antarctica should have no trouble finding work in an upcoming "Star Wars" project."The Weddell seals' calls create an almost unbelievable, otherworldly soundscape under the ice," Paul Cziko, a visiting professor at the...…Live Science is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.A diver in Antarctica's McMurdo Sound observes a Weddell seal swimming toward him.(Image: © McMurdo Oceanographic Observatory)Above water, they sound like bellowing . Below the ice, they sound like chirping, chattering robots. Either way, the Weddell of Antarctica should have no trouble finding work in an upcoming "Star Wars" project."The Weddell seals' calls create an almost unbelievable, otherworldly soundscape under the ice," Paul Cziko, a visiting professor at the...WW…

TrendingLive Science is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Scientists will deploy two robot gliders like this one to study iceberg A-68a.(Image: © David White/ BAS)The, A-68a, may be mere days away from crashing into the Antarctic wildlife refuge of South Georgia island, and researchers are already preparing for the aftermath. (BAS), which has tracked the iceberg for months, two refrigerator-sized robots will soon ship out for South Georgia to study the underwater effects of the impending collision.The twin...…TrendingLive Science is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Scientists will deploy two robot gliders like this one to study iceberg A-68a.(Image: © David White/ BAS)The, A-68a, may be mere days away from crashing into the Antarctic wildlife refuge of South Georgia island, and researchers are already preparing for the aftermath. (BAS), which has tracked the iceberg for months, two refrigerator-sized robots will soon ship out for South Georgia to study the underwater effects of the impending collision.The twin...WW…

TrendingSpace is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.(Image: © ESA)Have you ever seen 40,000 shooting stars blaze across the sky at the same time?If you'd like to, the European Space Agency (ESA) is offering you two options: Either stare at the night sky for about half a million years as our drifts steadily through the (some patience required) — or, watch a new 60-second time-lapse simulation of the same thing, courtesy of the ESA's .In the new simulation, 40,000 stars — all located within 325 of Earth's sun — whiz...…TrendingSpace is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.(Image: © ESA)Have you ever seen 40,000 shooting stars blaze across the sky at the same time?If you'd like to, the European Space Agency (ESA) is offering you two options: Either stare at the night sky for about half a million years as our drifts steadily through the (some patience required) — or, watch a new 60-second time-lapse simulation of the same thing, courtesy of the ESA's .In the new simulation, 40,000 stars — all located within 325 of Earth's sun — whiz...WW…

TrendingLive Science is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.This map shows how the 40,000 stars closest to our solar system will move over the next 400,000 years.(Image: © ESA)Have you ever seen 40,000 shooting stars blaze across the sky at the same time?If you'd like to, the European Space Agency (ESA) is offering you two options: Either stare at the night sky for about half a million years as our drifts steadily through the (some patience required) — or, watch a new 60-second time-lapse simulation of the same thing,...…TrendingLive Science is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.This map shows how the 40,000 stars closest to our solar system will move over the next 400,000 years.(Image: © ESA)Have you ever seen 40,000 shooting stars blaze across the sky at the same time?If you'd like to, the European Space Agency (ESA) is offering you two options: Either stare at the night sky for about half a million years as our drifts steadily through the (some patience required) — or, watch a new 60-second time-lapse simulation of the same thing,...WW…

TrendingSpace is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.The ASKAP radio telescope array, located in the Australian outback, just mapped 3 million galaxies in less than a month.(Image: © CSIRO)Astronomers in Australia have just mapped 83% of the observable universe, in just 300 hours.This new sky survey, which Australia's national science agency (CSIRO) as a "Google map of the universe", marks the completion of a big test for the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) radio telescope –- a network of 36...…TrendingSpace is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.The ASKAP radio telescope array, located in the Australian outback, just mapped 3 million galaxies in less than a month.(Image: © CSIRO)Astronomers in Australia have just mapped 83% of the observable universe, in just 300 hours.This new sky survey, which Australia's national science agency (CSIRO) as a "Google map of the universe", marks the completion of a big test for the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) radio telescope –- a network of 36...WW…

TrendingLive Science is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.An illustration of a magnetar -- the highly magnetized corpse of a collapsed star -- bursting with energy. Scientists think they could be responsible for fast radio bursts (FRB)(Image: © McGill University Graphic Design Team)Fast radio bursts () are some of the most energetic — and most brief — blasts of light in the universe.These mysterious pulses flash through space a thousand times a day, occasionally brushing past Earth and its vigilant telescopes. FRBs...…TrendingLive Science is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.An illustration of a magnetar -- the highly magnetized corpse of a collapsed star -- bursting with energy. Scientists think they could be responsible for fast radio bursts (FRB)(Image: © McGill University Graphic Design Team)Fast radio bursts () are some of the most energetic — and most brief — blasts of light in the universe.These mysterious pulses flash through space a thousand times a day, occasionally brushing past Earth and its vigilant telescopes. FRBs...WW…

TrendingLive Science is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.A simulation shows Antarctica, totally stripped of ice.(Image: © Garbe et al.)contains more than half of the world's freshwater in its sprawling, frozen ice sheet, but humanity's decisions over the next century could send that water irreversibly into the sea.  If is allowed to continue unchecked, Antarctica will soon pass a "point of no return" that could reduce the continent to a barren, ice-free mass for the first time in more than 30 million years, according...…TrendingLive Science is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.A simulation shows Antarctica, totally stripped of ice.(Image: © Garbe et al.)contains more than half of the world's freshwater in its sprawling, frozen ice sheet, but humanity's decisions over the next century could send that water irreversibly into the sea.  If is allowed to continue unchecked, Antarctica will soon pass a "point of no return" that could reduce the continent to a barren, ice-free mass for the first time in more than 30 million years, according...WW…

For mouthless, lungless bacteria, breathing is a bit more complicated than it is for humans.We inhale oxygen and exhale ; Geobacter - a ubiquitous, groundwater-dwelling genus of bacteria - swallow up organic waste and 'exhale' electrons, generating a in the process. Those waste electrons always need somewhere to go (usually into a plentiful underground mineral like oxide), and Geobacter have an unconventional tool to make sure they get there."Geobacter breathe through what is essentially a giant snorkel, hundreds of times their size," Nikhil Malvankar, an assistant professor at Yale...…For mouthless, lungless bacteria, breathing is a bit more complicated than it is for humans.We inhale oxygen and exhale ; Geobacter - a ubiquitous, groundwater-dwelling genus of bacteria - swallow up organic waste and 'exhale' electrons, generating a in the process. Those waste electrons always need somewhere to go (usually into a plentiful underground mineral like oxide), and Geobacter have an unconventional tool to make sure they get there."Geobacter breathe through what is essentially a giant snorkel, hundreds of times their size," Nikhil Malvankar, an assistant professor at Yale...WW…

TrendingLive Science is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.The electricity conducted by Geobacter's nanowires can be used to power small electronics, as this illustration shows.(Image: © Ella Maru Studio)For mouthless, lungless bacteria, breathing is a bit more complicated than it is for humans. We inhale oxygen and exhale ; Geobacter — a ubiquitous, groundwater-dwelling genus of bacteria — swallow up organic waste and "exhale" electrons, generating a tiny in the process.Those waste electrons always need somewhere to...…TrendingLive Science is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.The electricity conducted by Geobacter's nanowires can be used to power small electronics, as this illustration shows.(Image: © Ella Maru Studio)For mouthless, lungless bacteria, breathing is a bit more complicated than it is for humans. We inhale oxygen and exhale ; Geobacter — a ubiquitous, groundwater-dwelling genus of bacteria — swallow up organic waste and "exhale" electrons, generating a tiny in the process.Those waste electrons always need somewhere to...WW…

Sixty-six million years ago, after a hit Earth with the explosive energy of roughly, a shroud of ash, dust and vaporized rock covered the sky and slowly rained down on the planet. As plant and animal species died en masse, tiny undersea amoebas called forams continued to reproduce, building sturdy shells out of calcium and other deep-sea minerals, just as they had for hundreds of millions of years. When each foram inevitably died - pulverized into seabed sediment - they kept a little piece of Earth's ancient history alive in their fossilized shells.For decades, scientists have studied those...…Sixty-six million years ago, after a hit Earth with the explosive energy of roughly, a shroud of ash, dust and vaporized rock covered the sky and slowly rained down on the planet. As plant and animal species died en masse, tiny undersea amoebas called forams continued to reproduce, building sturdy shells out of calcium and other deep-sea minerals, just as they had for hundreds of millions of years. When each foram inevitably died - pulverized into seabed sediment - they kept a little piece of Earth's ancient history alive in their fossilized shells.For decades, scientists have studied those...WW…

TrendingSpace is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.This satellite image, captured in 2017, shows the rapid depletion of two ice caps on Ellesmere Island in the Canadian Arctic. As of July 2020, both are gone.(Image: © NASA/The Cryosphere)On frosty Ellesmere Island, where Canada butts up against the northwestern edge of Greenland, two once-enormous ice caps have completely vanished, new NASA imagery shows.It's no mystery where the caps, known as the St. Patrick Bay ice caps, went. Like many glacial features in the...…TrendingSpace is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.This satellite image, captured in 2017, shows the rapid depletion of two ice caps on Ellesmere Island in the Canadian Arctic. As of July 2020, both are gone.(Image: © NASA/The Cryosphere)On frosty Ellesmere Island, where Canada butts up against the northwestern edge of Greenland, two once-enormous ice caps have completely vanished, new NASA imagery shows.It's no mystery where the caps, known as the St. Patrick Bay ice caps, went. Like many glacial features in the...WW…

TrendingSpace is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Artist's impression of a magnetar launching a burst of X-ray and radio waves across the galaxy(Image: © ESA)Thirty thousand years ago, a dead star on the other side of the Milky Way belched out a powerful mixture of radio and X-ray energy. On April 28, 2020, that belch swept over Earth, triggering alarms at observatories around the world.The signal was there and gone in half a second, but that's all scientists needed to confirm they had detected something remarkable:...…TrendingSpace is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Artist's impression of a magnetar launching a burst of X-ray and radio waves across the galaxy(Image: © ESA)Thirty thousand years ago, a dead star on the other side of the Milky Way belched out a powerful mixture of radio and X-ray energy. On April 28, 2020, that belch swept over Earth, triggering alarms at observatories around the world.The signal was there and gone in half a second, but that's all scientists needed to confirm they had detected something remarkable:...WW…

After looming above the Arctic for nearly a month, the single ever detected over the North Pole has finally closed, researchers from the European Union’s Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) reported.“The unprecedented 2020 Northern Hemisphere ozone hole has come to an end,” on April 23.The hole in the—a portion of Earth’s atmosphere that shields the planet from ultraviolet radiation—first opened over the Arctic in late March when unusual wind conditions trapped frigid air over the  for several weeks in a row.Those winds, known as a polar vortex, created a circular cage of cold...…After looming above the Arctic for nearly a month, the single ever detected over the North Pole has finally closed, researchers from the European Union’s Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) reported.“The unprecedented 2020 Northern Hemisphere ozone hole has come to an end,” on April 23.The hole in the—a portion of Earth’s atmosphere that shields the planet from ultraviolet radiation—first opened over the Arctic in late March when unusual wind conditions trapped frigid air over the  for several weeks in a row.Those winds, known as a polar vortex, created a circular cage of cold...WW…

TrendingSpace is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.A satellite image shows the new ozone hole spreading over the North Pole.(Image: © European Space Agency)Scientists have detected what may be the largest hole in the ever recorded over the North Pole.The ozone hole covers an area roughly three times the size of , scientists from the European Space Agency (ESA) , and could expose people living at far northern latitudes to high levels of ultraviolet radiation if it grows much larger. Fortunately, the hole looks likely...…TrendingSpace is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.A satellite image shows the new ozone hole spreading over the North Pole.(Image: © European Space Agency)Scientists have detected what may be the largest hole in the ever recorded over the North Pole.The ozone hole covers an area roughly three times the size of , scientists from the European Space Agency (ESA) , and could expose people living at far northern latitudes to high levels of ultraviolet radiation if it grows much larger. Fortunately, the hole looks likely...WW…

TrendingSpace is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Denman trough (dark blue strip) sinks some 11,000 feet (3,500 meters) below sea level, and could soon become the burial plot of a massive, dying glacier.(Image: © NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio)The glaciers of are melting at unprecedented rates, and a giant canyon in the continent's rocky underbelly could make matters much worse.In a study published March 23 in the journal , researchers used more than 20 years of satellite data to monitor the ice in Denman...…TrendingSpace is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Denman trough (dark blue strip) sinks some 11,000 feet (3,500 meters) below sea level, and could soon become the burial plot of a massive, dying glacier.(Image: © NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio)The glaciers of are melting at unprecedented rates, and a giant canyon in the continent's rocky underbelly could make matters much worse.In a study published March 23 in the journal , researchers used more than 20 years of satellite data to monitor the ice in Denman...WW…